Gloria Mackoy, a country gospel singer and songwriter and former De Smet resident, visited Chuck Anderson in-studio during August of 1993. South Dakotans know Mackoy for her work in De Smet's "Little House on the Prairie" pageant, performances at the state fair and elsewhere. Mackoy and Anderson talked about her musical career and featured several songs from her first album, "From My Heart".
To begin the interview, Mackoy explained how she initially fell into music during her elementary and high school years, despite an inability to read music.
The conversation quickly turned to Mackoy’s first recording experience in Omaha, Nebraska. Prior to this, Mackoy had spent her career only performing live at small venues.
While a seasoned, live performer, even Mackoy was subject to forgetting the occasional song lyric. Anderson compared her to the famous Bing Crosby and his premire NBC Live performance
While Mackoy grew up in Barnard, Missouri, she traveled across the country to follow her husband’s career in education. She now lives in lives in Topeka, Kansas, but she truly enjoyed her time spent in De Smet, South Dakota.
Anderson and Mackoy spent much of their time listening to different songs from Mackoy’s album, including the song “Jesus and Me," written with her friend Bonnie Norbury.
To end their time together, Mackoy requested that Anderson play one of her favorite tracks titled “I’d Leave Here in a Heartbeat”.
Mackoy now lives in Topeka, Kansas with her new husband and long-time friend Roger Lucas. She has four grown children--Amanda, Phillip, Daniel, and Katie--and one granddaughter. While retired from singing largely due to peripheral neuropathy in her extremities, Mackoy has kept busy sewing, writing children's books, poems, and songs.
For Chuck Anderson's full conversation with Gloria Mackoy, listen here.